Treasury moves to repeal nearly 300 dead-letter tax rules

Many of the rules apply to provisions of the tax code that have since been repealed by Congress, or significantly revised, such as previous versions of the alternative minimum tax. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it will move to repeal nearly 300 tax regulations that have become outdated.

The proposals for eliminating dead-letter rules stem from President Trump’s directive that the agency lower tax burdens. The Treasury has already moved to undo or revamp Obama-era tax rules that have a significant impact on business.

“These 298 regulations serve no useful purpose to taxpayers and we have proposed eliminating them,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. “I look forward to continuing to build on our efforts to make the regulatory system more efficient and effective.”

Many of the rules apply to provisions of the tax code that have since been repealed by Congress, or significantly revised, such as previous versions of the alternative minimum tax. Others no longer apply by the terms of the code itself — for instance, some rules implement provisions of law that had deadlines, some of which ended back decades ago and were never cleared out.

The Trump administration has moved to slow rule-making and lower regulatory burdens, including, in the first days Trump came into office, freezing new rules and requiring the elimination of two old rules for every new one imposed.